Matthew 15
15
The Tradition of the Elders
Mk. 7:1-23
1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples violate the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 But, in response, He said to them, “Why do you also violate the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honour your * father and your mother,’ * and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ * 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his * father or his mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is a gift consecrated to God,” * 6 need not honour his father.’ * So you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah rightly prophesied concerning you, saying,
8 ‘This people * honours Me with their lips, *
but their hearts are distant, kept away from Me;
9 and they worship Me to no purpose,
teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ” *
10 And calling the crowd to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
11 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man, * but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles the man.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were displeased when they heard this saying?” 13 And in response, He said, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Leave them. They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 And in response, Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 But He* said, “Are you also without understanding at this point in time? 17 Do you not understand that whatever that goes into the mouth proceeds to the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? 18 But the things which proceed from the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, untrue testimonies, slanders. 20 These are the things which defile the man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
The Faith of the Canaanite Woman
Mk. 7:24-30
21 And departing from that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is miserably demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came to Him and were begging Him, saying, “Dismiss her, because she is crying out after us.” 24 But in response, He said, “I was not sent except to the sheep who have been lost from the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt in reverence before Him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And in response, He said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then, in response, Jesus said to her, “O woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 And departing from that place, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and He went up on the mountain and was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute,* and many others. And they put them down at His* feet, and He healed them, 31 so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing. Therefore, they glorified the God of Israel.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
Mk. 8:1-10
32 And Jesus called His disciples to Himself, and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already remained with Me three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to Him, “Where in this deserted place can we get so much bread to satisfy such a great crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And when He had commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground in a relaxed posture, 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, He broke them and began to give them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them* to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over from the broken pieces, seven baskets full. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, apart from women and children. 39 And having dismissed the crowds, He entered the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Notes
4 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive your . Used twice in this verse
4 Quoted from Ex. 20:12
4 Quoted from Ex. 21:17
5 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive his . Used twice in this verse
5 The reading in the Greek text is elliptical. The adjective phrase devoted to God is supplied on contextual considerations for the sake clarity
6 Some ancient manuscripts expand the text at this point to read or his mother
8 Some ancient manuscripts expand the text at this point to read draws near to me with their mouth, in keeping with Is. 29:13
8 Greek with lips
8 Quoted from Is. 29:13
11 Or the person. Used twice in this verse. So also vv. 18,20
16 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name Jesus at this point, so that the reading becomes: But Jesus said
30 Some ancient manuscripts divergently reverse the order in the following ways: lame, crippled, blind, mute; lame, blind, mute, crippled; lame, mute, blind, crippled; mute, lame, blind, crippled; mute, blind, lame, crippled; blind, mute, lame, crippled; mute, blind, crippled, lame; and lame, blind, crippled
30 Some ancient manuscripts read at Jesus' feet
35 Or to sit down on the grass in a relaxed posture, in readiness for a meal
36 The verb phrase gave them is supplied to the text on contextual grounds for the purpose of clarification
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
